DOYDL = ODDLY

CENIE = NIECE

SKEORM = SMOKER

BUTEAP = UPBEAT

CARTOON ANSWER:

SHERLOCK HOLMES GAVE HIS FRIENDS DISCOUNTS, AND THEY WERE THANKFUL FOR HIS – – –

DDNICSOUET = DEDUCTIONS

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday! After such an easy puzzle yesterday, NIECE and UPBEAT gave me a bit of a challenge this morning. UPBEAT caused me the longest delay and would be my choice for the most difficult anagram.

After reading the dialogue and sentence, we learn that Jeff has drawn a panel of the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. Apparently Mr. Holmes has just solved a mystery for his friends and is discussing compensation for his services. With that information in mind, I’d like to focus a bit more on the overall solution than the cartoon itself.

Looking at the ultra-cryptic letter layout, I saw DISCOUNT immediately and thought that my sleuthing was done for the day. Adding the leftover letters of -ED to the end seemed logical but DISCOUNTED didn’t fit the sentence and DISCOUNTS was already used. Scratching my head, I jumbled the letters a few times on my notepad and worked a bit more until I found DEDUCT. The leftover letters were quickly placed at the end and my caper was solved!

I hope you had an easier solve than I did, as we don’t often have two words of 10-letters that seem to fit the sentence. Have a terrific Tuesday and I’ll see you tomorrow!